Pauline told Southwark Crown Court: "The word I've always associated with Max, since I've known him, is the word integrity.

"I've been in his company on many occasions and always found him down to earth and very normal considering the business we are both in.

"As I said, he is a decent, decent man. That is what I think of him - decent."

INTEGRITY: Pauline said Clifford was a man she respected [GETTY]

Quirke told the court she had known Clifford for 20 years, having met him through their work for the charity the Rhys Daniels Trust, where they are both vice-patrons. They appeared on the celebrity version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? and raised £32,000 for the charity.

She said: "We are good friends, we've been out for dinner, Max has been to my house for dinner, I've been to his house, he was at my wedding, I was at his wedding."

Asked by Richard Horwell QC, defending, how well she had got to know Clifford, she said: "We didn't have any holidays together, or that sort of thing, but I would say he's a good, decent man, yeah.”

"I've certainly never seen him behave inappropriately with a woman, and I've never heard any rumours over the years."

Sky TV presenter Clare Tomlinson also gave evidence. She said she would not defend Clifford if she had any suspicion that he behaved inappropriately.

Ms Tomlinson told the court: "In my career subsequently I have experienced sexual bullying and harassment, and I wouldn't be here giving evidence if I believed that Max was capable of that sort of thing."

She worked for Clifford for six months from January 1991 as his personal assistant.

"I wanted to work in football, and we parted on very amicable terms," she said.

Asked to describe him, she said: "He wasn't a strict boss, he had an old school charm, he would open a door for you, he worried about you getting home if you had been to a function."

Asked if the office had been "sexually charged", as has been alleged during the case, she said: "Certainly not during my six months, or any time after if I visited the hairdresser downstairs, and went for a cup of tea – it wasn't like that."

She said Clifford was "avuncular with ladies", adding: "He wasn't the sort who would pat people on the bum."